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Preterite or Imperfect? Spanish has two basic ways to talk about the past: Preterite Imperfect There are also others you would learn about in later Spanish courses. In this slide show, well look at some the differences in how each tense in used.

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Preterite Lets review some of the main uses of the preterite. This verb tense is used when we talk about a past action that happened one time OR interrupted something already going on OR was the beginning of an event OR was the end of an event.

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The end of an event Terminé el proyecto a la medianoche. Los Osos de Chicago ganaron el campeonato de fútbol americano.

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Imperfect Next lets review some of the main uses of the imperfect. This verb tense is used when we talk about a past action that happened many times OR was in progress (was …ing) OR described a condition.